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Contracts for different stages of a construction constitute a single procurement

The European Commission is taking Germany before the Court of Justice over the award, without a tender, of a public contract, for renovation services in Niedernhausen. In 2006, the municipality of Niedernhausen commenced the renovation of a multi-purpose hall. The renovation was to take place over three years and consisted of several construction phases. According to the municipality, the value of the contract for architectural services for each phase of construction was individually below the threshold and therefore did not have to go out to an EU-wide tender. The Commission takes a different view. It considers that the planning for the renovation of the multi-purpose hall by a single architect constituted a single contract, even where the construction itself is phased. Since the value of services for all the phases was above the threshold for a pubic service contract, it should have gone out to an EU-wide tender under the procurement rules.